How To Pay For A Hunting Trip

[Whip]

There is a thread going about the cost of guided versus non-guided hunts.  I thought it might be interesting to start a seperate thread about the things you do to save up for a special hunting trip (or new bow if that's what you need)

I'll bet there are a bunch of different ways of finagling the family budget to pay for the things we want to do without hurting the ones we love.  Let's hear yours.

I'll start with an old standby, tried and true:  

At the end of each day clean out the pockets of your pants and toss any loose change in a jar.

[RUSTY1]

OVERTIME!!!

[jcar315]

Sell bows that are collecting dust on the rack.

[Caleb Andes]

****, ****, then.. more ****. I sell stuff for friends, stuff I never use anymore, pretty much everything I can find. My dad has alot of junk in his basement he has wanted gone for awhile so I just pick and choose from there.

Also, my father in law bought land this year with an old broken down house on it.. time to strip copper wiring and pipes!!

[wapiti792]

I don't eat lunch out and go to the gym starting every Jan. It sounds silly but I have an office job and get an hour for lunch. I allow myself 40 dollars a week and after 34 weeks I have some saved. My wife is on board as she likes me less portly and ususally doesn't protest too much come Sept  

[Mike Vines]

Copied from the other thread...

Just a few of the things I do to save money that allows me to travel and hunt...

Pick up a side job or 2, get some overtime at work, pack a lunch everyday, eat dinner out as few times as possible. I won an eating contest last month and now receive a free pizza, order of breadsticks and pitcher of pop once a month for a year (now that is the way to save some big coin there). We actually had that for dinner tonight, plus it makes it real easy on my wife (she does most of the cooking, except the grill)

Buy everything on sale. Buy good used equipment. It is still good stuff. Drink more water and less beer, make your own coffee. Pay off your truck, and keep it. Turn the heat down at the house to 69* or less, and use a blanket. Buy store brand groceries when possible.

If flying, use travel websites (Expedia rocks),Don't carry money on you and have 1 credit card that has a low limit. if you do feel the need to buy something then go to a thrift store. Charge your kids .10 for each time they leave the lights on (they will stop within the first 2 days), Wash the dog yourself instead of the $35 every couple months they want. Go out and collect firewood and split it yourself, don't buy it.

Learn to enjoy making things you use by yourself or with your kids (saves money and you get quality time with the kids).

Mow the lawn yourself, and get rid of the lawn service. (just can't bring myself to do this one yet)

Want to read something, don't buy it. Either go to the Library (you already paid for it with your taxes) or do what I do and go to Bass Pro grab a magazine, then go sit on a pontoon boat to read it.

Research everything online as much as you can before you buy it. Either you will decide you really don't need it, or you will find the best deal for it available.

When it comes to living frugal, I feel that I'm the king. Hell, my wife and I invented copper wire fighting over a penny.

After all of that saving, spend it like it going out of style when the time comes, because I have never seen a Hearse with luggage racks.

Doing all of this, plus a few others, is what allwed me to take the family (4 of us) to Kauai, Hawaii for 2 weeks later this year.  There will be tons of hunting, and deep sea fishing during that time as well.

[BowHunterGA]

Set up home networks, configure internet filtering systems for parents looking to protect their kids from the internet, Virus and Malware removal for individuals and a couple small businesses.

Also purchase vintage audiphile grade speakers from yard sales, and craigslist that are in need of repair. Usually just dry-rotting of the speaker surrounds. Repair them and resale. Is relaxing and I usually make a decent profit.

[ron w]

I keep my wife working........I retired so I could hunt more. I wish that was the case.....  

[jax]

Make the wife quit spending money.,

[Cyclic-Rivers]

Set a goal!  Once I have an Idea what a hunt will cost, open up a savings account that cannot be touched.  Every penny you pick up, loose change, returned aluminum cans and anything else, place in that account.

Maybe mow a lawn for someone like Mike Vines. An hour or two a week and you have a large bulk of the hunt paid for.  

Every time I worked OT I would stick an extra 20 or 50 in the account.  You would be surprised how much money you could come up with in a years time.

I also sold the extra bows I had laying around. I never was good at double fisted shooting anyhow.

[Arwin]

I grab the thigh high zipper boots and fish net stockings........wait a minute i wasn't supposed to tell!!!!      

[Bjorn]

My savings goal this year is to help my wife find that second job!      

[robtattoo]

Originally posted by Mike Vines:
 Wash the dog yourself instead of the $35 every couple months they want.  

Hey!!  :(  That's MY hunting money you ain't spending!
Support your local dog groomer (And get me some more hunting trips!)

   

[Kentucky Jeff]

My wife has been doing the extreme coupon thing and it has seriously lowered our grocery bills.  It takes a little time with the Sunday paper (we buy 4 or 5 for the coupons) and at the grocery store itself.  But last week we went to the store, spent 3 hours shopping, and walked out the door with over $1,000 worth of groceries and household supplies and paid $115 out of pocket.  No kidding.  

We almost never pay money any more for things like laundry detergent, toothpaste, shampoo etc.  About the only thing you end up putting out cash for are things like fresh produce and some meats.  But even those things can be bought right if you buy what's in season and or on sale.

People will say they don't have the patience or time for this.  We probably spent 5 hours total between clipping coupons and shopping.  That resulted in over $900 in savings.  Any of you fellas make $100 an hour?

There are some tricks and tips you need to know but it works for real and you don't have to end up with a bunch of stuff you don't want or can't use.

[Whip]

Originally posted by robtattoo:
 

Originally posted by Mike Vines:
 Wash the dog yourself instead of the $35 every couple months they want.  

Hey!!   :(   That's MY hunting money you ain't spending!
Support your local dog groomer (And get me some more hunting trips!)

     [/b]

Every battle has a winner and a loser Rob!        

[Steve H.]

Get an Alaska Airline VISA card for $75 or $100 buck per year fee.  Cancel the card (or not) right before the end of the first year.  You will get 20,000 or is it 25,000 air miles which IF you do it right, is enough miles for some free round trip tickets.

[Mike Vines]

If you want Rob, your more than welcome to come be my lawn guy.

[Cyclic-Rivers]

I met a guy who makes about 3 g's a year trapping.

[Bel007]

I work a 7-on 7-off job.  I am fortunate enough to be able to pick up a shift or two on my "off week".  

This week is my off week.  I am working 5 extra shifts - 43 hours.  This will pay for my trip to Kzoo at the end of the month (and I aint talking about just buying gas to get there).      

In Decemeber I worked 65 "extra" hours. Last week I bought two bows off of the classifieds and paid off christmas.

I have two more months to work off my spring bear hunt.

I learned long ago I am no good at selling stuff I bought.  I want to keep it all.  So off to work I go, high-ho, high-ho.

[Skipmaster1]

Marry a great girl who makes a lot of money, so your paycheck is for fun stuff!

No, really. We live pretty simply day to day. We buy used vehicles and drive them until they literally can't be driven anymore. Any toys like snowmobiles or quads are only bought when we come across a VERY good deal, usually on an older less popular model that needs some work, which we do ourselves. We rarely eat out or go to movies and such. We'll make dinner and watch netflix for what it would cost us in gas to get to and from the movie theater! I buy most of my hunting stuff used and get most of my wool sweaters from goodwill, she buys most of here horse stuff used from tack shops. I can work a lot of overtime at my job and will if there is something I am saving for. We both work in schools so on snowdays we have off. Instead of staying home we both have plow routes. She has the summers off but likes to stay busy with odd jobs and helping her sisters boyfriend with tree removal( he runs a family tree business). We get all the firewood we can handle for free and all we have to do is split it, so we use less than 200 gallons of oil every 12 months.
It's all the little things that let us save money, not just one thing. So when we want something new or want to go on a trip, we have the $$ and don't think twice about it. By doing all of these things we get to "treat" ourselves to fun stuff and still save money.